The Fest for Beatles Fans

New Catalogues are in the mail

The Fest — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:58:21 +0000

For those of you on the East Coast, the Mailing for the NY METRO FEST should be arriving this week. It will have all the details for the FEST plus a Spring New Release Preview of new Catalogue items. Our next full catalogue is mailed at the end of May. Of course, the latest details can always be found on line.

Here is a bit of February 23rd history:

When Ed Sullivan signed The Beatles for 3 consecutive appearances, it was for $10,000.00 total. The Beatles manager Brian Epstein INSISTED they be the headliners. The Beatles were totally unknown in the U.S. in the fall of 1963, but Ed sensed something and amazingly agreed. The third appearance was Feb 23, 1964. What we didn’t know at the time, was that, because of their tight schedule, they actually recorded the third show on Sunday, Feb 9th, hours before 73 million watched them live at 8PM. They left Miami Beach on Friday, Feb 21st, returned home to the UK to begin work on A Hard Day’s Night. I, Mark, was in Miami that day and got to see The Beatles leave the Deauville Hotel, but that is another story.

Denny Laine & others added to NY METRO Lineup

The Fest — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:15:54 +0000

THE BIGGEST LINEUP OF SPECIAL GUESTS IN OUR 36 YEAR HISTORY! Just added to our already big lineup of Special Guests are two former members of Wings, Founding Member DENNY LAINE & Wings First Drummer DENNY SEIWELL. Also joining in the celebration is SID BERNSTEIN, the man who brought the Beatles to Carnegie Hall and Shea Stadium. We have also added Marc Rubinstein is presenting the PIG LIGHT SHOW while LIVERPOOL is performing. Joshua Light Show mentored Marc at the Fillmore East in NYC in the late 1960s. The FEST FOR BEATLES FANS 2010 is March 26-28, so mark your calendars and we hope to see you all there.

Mark’s Mom, Sally Lapidos passes away

The Fest — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:38:23 +0000

On Saturday, Jan 30th , after a long illness, my Mother, Sally Lapidos passed away peacefully in her sleep. She was 88. For all of you long time NY METRO attendees,my Mother use to come to all the shows helping out at our booth. She was always very enthusiastic and my biggest supporter. We will all miss her very much.

It is very strange how things work out. The oddity of this Beatles connection to my parents is astounding to me.
My Father was born on October 9th – John’s Birthday – the FIRST Beatle
He passed away on November 9th (1997), the FIRST time Brian saw The Beatles at the Cavern Club (1961)
Mom was born on on October 1st – the release of Abbey Road - the LAST Beatles recorded album (1969)
Mom passed on the day of The Beatles LAST public performance (1969).

Special Guests Announced. Tickets now Available

The Fest — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:12:55 +0000

Today, we announce who the SPECIAL GUESTS are going to be for THE FEST FOR BEATLES FANS 2010 – NEW YORK METRO, Fri-Sun, MARCH 26-28 at the NJ Crowne Plaza Meadowlands Hotel, Secaucus, NJ. All other details, events and ticket prices are now posted as well. Our SPECIAL GUESTS include SPENCER DAVIS, ANDREW LOOG OLDHAM, CHRIS O’DELL, BILLY J. KRAMER, CHRIS MONTEZ, MARK HUDSON, BRETT HUDSON, RON CAMPBELL, ALLAN TANNENBAUM, AND LIVE CONCERTS BY LIVERPOOL, THE WORLD’S FINEST BEATLES TRIBUTE BAND. CLICK ON THE FEST button to take to you all the specifics and complete information on our guests. Hope to see you all there. It is going to be a very exciting and beatleful weekend!!

New Ringo CD – “Y Not” Now Available

The Fest — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:14:34 +0000

For the first time ever, Ringo produces himself on his most personal album yet. Ringo is joined on Y Not by old and new friends including Paul McCartney, with whom Ringo sings on Y Not’s stunning first single, “Walk With You,” a moving new song about the power of friendship. Ringo meets Hip-O on Starr’s latest solo effort released today, January 12th on Hip-O Records/UMe. The CD is now is stock and all pre-orders have been shipped. New orders can ship immediately. Item #1793

Ringo will be doing lots of media in the next few weeks for all you Ringo watchers (Thanks, Tom)
“Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” on NBC on Jan. 12
“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” on Comedy Central Jan. 13.
“The Jay Leno Show” on NBC on Jan. 18
“Larry King Live” on CNN on either Jan. 21 or 22.
Finally, he’ll be on “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien” on NBC on Feb. 5.
On the radio, he’ll be on “Rockline” Jan. 20.

Also, Yoko and the Plastic Ono Band tickets go on sale this morning at 10AM for their concert February 16th celebrating her 77th birthday - at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Appearing with Yoko are some original members of the POB and other notables – Jim Keltner, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, Paul Simon, Bette Midler, Mick Ronson and others. Twitter Yoko (http://twitter.com/yokoono) for details or call 718-636-4100.

Ring out the Old, Ring in the New!

The Fest — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:56:33 +0000

We wish all our Beatles friends from around the world and very Happy and Peaceful 2010. Hope to see many of you in the New Year!

Happy Beatles Holidays!

The Fest — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:44:53 +0000

The Lapidos Family would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for being part of this 35 year journey thru the World of The Beatles. From the first convention back in 1974 till today, it has been an honour to present our FESTS and to get to know so many Beatles fans from all around the world. It has also been very exciting to have developed the world’s largest Beatles Mail Order business and webstore. You are are not only our customers, but our fellow Beatles fans. This was a great year for fans with Paul opening the new Shea Stadium (Citi Field) for 3 amazing Summer Nights in July (+ a few other Cities), the release of The Beatles Remastered Stereo and Mono Box Sets, Rock Band, Trivial Pursuit and the newest rage – The Beatles MusicSkins! Our goal is to be able to offer the latest Beatles items as soon as we find out about them and pass along Beatles news in a timely manner as well.

We look forward to seeing many of you at our 2010 FESTS:
New York Metro – March 26-28
Chicago -August 13-15.

We wish you a very happy and healthy holiday season and peace and love in the new year.

SoundScan has just announced the Top 10 Bestselling CDs of this decade and The Beatles 1 has come in at NUMBER ONE, selling 11,499,000 copies (NSYNC finished #2). The Beatles were the 2nd biggest selling act of the decade (behind Eminem). They sold over 30 Million CDs. These are truly phenomenal achievements, 40 years after the breakup! The only way a CD can sell such huge numbers is if young listeners are buying it, and they most certainly are. It is great to know The Beatles music transcends generations and this historic achievement is proof their music will live forever!!

For all of you who need to do some last minute holiday shopping, we can still get your Beatles merchandise to you on or before the 24th!
If you order this weekend, we will ship on Monday for no additional shipping charges if you are East of the Mississippi. For West of the Mississippi, we can offer UPS 3 Day Select for a modest additional fee. Most of you in the East can still order by Tuesday without additional fees. PLEASE LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BOX AFTER YOU PLACE YOUR ORDER, TELLING US HOW YOU WANT YOUR ORDER SHIPPED. For those of you who have been calling about the progress of your orders, by 5PM today, with the arrival (finally) of the Yellow Sub Shower Curtain and the New Fleece Blankets, just about all orders will have been mailed out. We will contact you if there are any items in your order out of stock. If you need an update on your order, we suggest you email us for quicker responses.

Beatles 1 – CD of the Decade!

The Fest — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:02:42 +0000

SoundScan has just announced the Top 10 Bestselling CDs of this decade and The Beatles 1 has come in at NUMBER ONE, selling 11,499,000 copies. This is truly a phenomenal achievement, 40 years after the breakup! (NSYNC finished #2) The only way a CD can sell such huge numbers is if young listeners are buying it, and they most certainly are. It is great to know The Beatles music transcends generations and this historic achievement is proof their music will live forever!!

Webstore Update: The hot selling MusicSkins arrived in our warehouse today and so did the new Beatles Pens, Mugs, Magnets, Corgi Buses and Taxis. The balance of the USB Apples will be sent to those who pre-ordered, on Monday.

We Remember John

The Fest — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:53:36 +0000

December 8, 1980 – The saddest day on the Beatles calendar. John Lennon was assassinated in front of his home on West 72nd Street in NYC. The world literally stopped for a week. As Elton John sang, in his tribute to John, “Empty Garden” – “A gardener like that one, no one can replace”. It is still a difficult day for fans to get through, but listening to his music and thinking of all the love he gave the world definitely helps. Very few people who have ever walked the face of this Earth have become as well known and loved as John, Paul, George, & Ringo. The positive influence they have had still affects every day life. Their message of Peace and Love is very powerful and to see younger people getting the message is very heartwarming. Long Live The Beatles!

All You Need is Love.

We Remember George Today -8 Years Later

The Fest — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:21:50 +0000

November 29, 2001 – The day we lost George Harrison to cancer. If there ever was a day for any Beatles fans who still smokes to give them up, today is the day. Listen to his music and think about the music he could still be giving us if it hadn’t been for those damn ciggies that they didn’t know better about. We do, so do “Something” about it. When you think about The Beatles, it is a given that they had the two greatest songwriters in history – John Lennon and Paul McCartney. But it is equally amazing that they also had another one, way up there, in George Harrison. His body of work is a mountain in the world of music. His is greatly missed and our thoughts are with Olivia and Dhani on this day.

Give Me Love, Give Me Peace on Earth.